


Play It Softly

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 12 Days of Sterek, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe- Werewolves are still a thing, Fae Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Meet-Cute, Writer Stiles, always a werewolf Derek Hale, nanny derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-10
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 15:45:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8806777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: "Dude I don't know what the hell it is you're playing but it's LITERALLY the only music that's helped me focus in like FIVE. DAYS. PLEASE stay another half hour PLEASE, I'll pay for your coffee AND buy you a dessert of your choice, have you had their apple danishes? They're REALLY good please stay,"Hot Guy stared at him for a second like a deer in the headlights of life before slowly starting to walk closer to Stiles, wich was when he started to realize exactly how crazy he sounded and could only hope Hot Guy wouldn't call the policeOr: Stiles is struggling to finish his book on time and the hot guy across the cafe' with the baby is playing the only music that seems to help him write (fun fact: Said music happens to be lullabies)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of an almost trueish story? Turns out when I need to concentrate on something light-hearted/kid-freindly lullabies are a *Great* way to concentrate, I'm especially fond of Christmas lullabies because they help me write Christmas themed things without getting too distracted by all of the jauntyness that Christmas music usually has

"Any luck?"

Glancing up, the man gave a small, slow shake of his head and sighed quietly

"Can I have another coffee please?"

"Sure Stiles, are you sure that it's a good idea to keep going like this though? I mean if you aren't making any progress..."

Stiles rubbed his eyes, staring at the barista in front of him and making a sad, wimpering noise in the back his throat

"I can't quit now Kira, I've gotta have this in by Monday and I need the weekend to finish all of the techy stuff like the table of contents, the spacing, the dedication..."

"Why did you promise your publisher you would have it in by Monday when you weren't even done writing it yet?" Kira asked curiously as she reached beside her to get a fresh coffee cup

"Because I'm stupid and arrogant," Stiles grumbled back, rubbing his eyes and sighing tiredly

Kira pouted sympathetically, pushing the new filled coffee cup towards him and shaking her head as Stiles reached for his wallet

"This one is on me,"

"Kir-"

"No no, you've already killed four of these things in the last two hours, this is the least I can do,"

And well... how could he turn down free coffee?

So he thanked her, smiling weakly, and took his coffee back to his seat to glare at his laptop once again

Writer's block was hell, ok?

Stiles is almost 100% sure that when Dante's Inferno was written they completely left out the tenth level of hell: Writer's block

But here's the ironic problem, _he doesn't actually have writer's block_

He KNOWS what he wants to write, hell he knows it almost word for word!!

He just can't CONCENTRATE because he keeps getting distracted- a problem for alot of faery folk, they get distracted by every single little thing...

And sadly, the more pressure there was, the harder it was for him to think

Wich means that having a three-day deadline was about to kill him

He had hoped that camping out in the coffee shop would prevent him from getting distracted by things at home like his dog and TV but he mostly has just ended up people watchng and staring listlessly out the window....

And that was when _it_ happened

He had been staring at the door, zoned out and completely unaware of his surroundings, when someone new walked in

Someone who he hadn't seen before, wich was an oddity, considering that Stiles had lived here his entire life and kind of knew everyone

He was freaking _gorgeous_ , like, Stiles didn't know that kind of beauty could even exist outside of vampire romances and corny werewolf shows

His hair was black as coal and soft as kitten fluff (or so it looked anyway) a full beard and the most stunning green eyes, tan skin, muscular...

And he was carrying a baby

Stiles was dead (and probably going to hell)

It was kinda skeevy to be lusting after a guy with a new baby wasn't it?

Stiles wasn't sure how long he had been staring but he knew it was probably a wile considering the hot guy with the baby glared as he walked past

But seriously how was that level of attractiveness even FAIR?

One thing was for sure, there was absolutely no way he was going to get any work done now

He might as well just pack it up and pray to whatever celestial powers were out there that Lydia was already home for the holidays and he could use her quiet room

Just plug in some music and he should be able to get this thing done...

Except there in laid the problem, Stiles didn't know what music to use

He had been trying for DAYS to find a song- just ONE. SONG.- that would help him concentrate and get into the right headspace to write this stupid thing and none of them seemed to work, they all either jarred him out of his headspace or put him to sleep- or something frighteningly in between...

Oh well, he could screw around with it later when he WASN'T inevitably going to be distracted by a stupidly hot guy

But just as he was starting to wrap up his things, getting ready to shut his laptop down, he heard something....

Something that was... really really nice, actually

Music... soft, familiar, and absolutely getting him in the zone......

And it was coming from the table just across from him....

He jerked his head up, not knowing if he should feel blessed or cursed at that moment when he realized that the music was, in fact, coming from Hot Guy's table

"Hey... hey dude?" he called, trying to be loud enough to get Hot Guy's attention but not SO loud that he woke up the sleeping baby he was tending to

Hot Guy turned around, scowl deep as ever, and just intensified his glaring at Stiles

"The music, can you-"

"I'm not turning it down," Hot Guy snapped

Wich, ok, rude? But also probably a reasonable assumption, all things considered

"Um no? Actually I was going to ask if you could turn it UP?"

There was a pause, the scowl on Hot Guy's face softening into one of confusion

"You have GOT to be kidding me..."

"Nope, not kidding, writer in desperate need of drown-out music here, pretty please?"

Hot Guy still looked doubtfull, but to Stiles' releif he reached for the little radio thingy on the table and cranked the volume up a notch or two, just enough for Stiles to hear it better

And with that, thankfully, he was able to completely zone into what he was doing and write like the wind

~+~

Stiles was about half-way done with his peice, probably about 45 minutes into writing it, when the music abruptly turned off, causing a panic as he jerked his head up to see Hot Guy starting to clean up his table

"Oh God please no don't tell me you're leaving," he blurted out, scrambling out of the booth and nearly collapsing onto the floor (wich is what he gets for not stretching his legs in over an hour)

Hot Guy stared at him in confusion, tilting his head

"Dude I don't know what the hell it is you're playing but it's LITERALLY the only music that's helped me focus in like FIVE. DAYS. PLEASE stay another half hour PLEASE, I'll pay for your coffee AND buy you a dessert of your choice, have you had their apple danishes? They're REALLY good please stay,"

Hot Guy stared at him for a second like a deer in the headlights of life before slowly starting to walk closer to Stiles, wich was when he started to realize exactly how crazy he sounded and could only hope Hot Guy wouldn't call the police

"I was just moving tables," he said slowly, nudging his head to the side as Stiles peered over his shoulder and noticed the man who had recently sat down at the table behind Hot Guy's

In a three peice suit with a laptop going and yapping on his cell phone 90 to nothing...

No wonder Hot Guy was moving, even if he DIDN'T have a sleeping baby to worry about that would drive anybody nuts...

"I'm guessing it's alright if I sit behind you?"

"Oh God yes please better yet you can totally sit at my table if you want, I'll clear a space and everything, order anything you want and Kira'll put it on my tab,"

Wich only succeeded in making him sound more crazy just when he was starting to think he might NOT have completely screwed things up

Hot Guy smirked- and made Stiles' crush _horribly_ worse- and started walking towards the table

"You really like this music don't you?"

"I mean... weirdly yes? But it isn't just about liking it, it helps me concentrate, helps me get in the zone you know? When I write I use different songs during different peices so that I can be better in the right mood and the right headspace to do it, you know? Like if I'm writing a love poem I don't want 'Never Ever Ever Ever Getting Back Together' on in the background, you know what I mean?"

"I do,"

And if it was possible, Hot Guy just smirked even more as he set his stuff in the booth and very gently placed the baby carrier next to him

"Out of curiosity, what are you writing?"

"Well right now I'm finishing a book of bedtime stories for kids,"

"That makes sense then,"

At first Stiles didn't know why he said that, until he turned the music back on and Stiles finally started noticing something about the music....

"Because I've been playing lullabies all day,"

Well, there went his chance at having absolutely any cool points at all with Hot Guy, if there HAD been a hope in hell of him ever crushing on Stiles, the "needs to listen to lullabies in order to write" thing completely stomped out that fire

~+~

Stiles couldn't stop thinking about Hot Guy and it was getting to be something of a problem

He was a little sad that he hadn't run into him again even though he had tried pretty hard to frequent the coffee shop more often in the hopes of catching him

Worse was that he still felt kind of guilty about lusting after Hot Guy to begin with, not that single parents were necessarily off the table but Stiles had no proof that Hot Guy was even single to begin with- and with a baby who was only a few months old he kinda found it hard to believe he was, wich was the much bigger part of the problem because Stiles really didn't want to be THAT guy

But hey, on the bright side, atleast his book was submitted on time, and it should be out in early spring so you know, silver linings

And on the kinda other bright side, atleast his sales were up, benefits of Christmas season he supposed

But still... he couldn't help spending more time than he probably should thinking about Hot Guy, and not just about how he could get his hands on him either

He found himself legitimately THINKING about him

Was he involved with someone else? What was his kid's name? Did he like being a dad? Did he have a big family or a small family? How old was he? What did he do for a living? Did he have a dog? Was he going to have a happy Christmas?

Stiles hoped that, atleast, the second one was a yes

He tried to get Hot Guy out of his head more and more the closer it came to Christmas, but on December 20th he lost the hope of ever getting him out of his head- EVER

Mostly because Kira called

"Somebody wants my books!?"

_"Yeah! He said he'll wait as long as an hour for you, he's here at the coffee shop,"_

This was incredible, Stiles had honestly never been in a situation like this where someone was actually REQUESTING his books

Sure he sold enough to make a living but that took alot of, you know, SELLING

To people and online, he did alot of advertising, but no one ever just... REQUESTED them....

"I'll be there in thirty minutes ok?" he said quickly, hanging up before Kira could even give a reply and racing to get his keys and jacket and get out of the house before the mysterious guy at the coffee shop came to his senses and left

Because knowing his luck... that was exactly what was going to happen...

~+~

Stiles had never run so fast in his life as he did to get from the car to the coffee shop

He slammed into the door, stumbling over his own feet as he rushed to the counter and practically threw himself at Kira

"Where's the dude that's gonna help pay for Lydia's perfume!? ... And don't tell her I bought her that by the way,"

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, and he's right there," Kira smiled back, nodding off to the side

And when Stiles turned to see who it was.... his jaw dropped

"Oh my God Hot Guy," he blurted out

Hot Guy frowned, eyes narrowed, and Stiles suddenly became aware of the fact that he had just said that out loud....

"You mentioned before that you write children's books, I was wondering if I could buy some," Hot Guy said slowly, shifting on his feet a little bit

"O-Oh!! Yeah yeah absolutely just... do you wanna.. um... come over here and... and sit? Do business?" he asked, gesturing towards a random booth

Hot Guy gave a tense nod, following Stiles to the aforementioned table and slowly sitting down as Stiles swung his tote bag of books onto the table to start fishing out the children's books to show him

"So uh, these three are probably best for your daughter, since their age range i-"

"My daughter?" Hot Guy blurted out, sounding... confused...?

"Um-"

"Oh... oh no Tabitha isn't my daughter, I'm her nanny,"

"You're a NANNY!?"

Because listen, look, Stiles had considered alot of questions about Hot Guy ok?

He had considered all kinds of circumstances and conditions and careers but a NANNY?

He never ever would have guessed that Hot Guy was actually Hot Nanny....

"Why are you so surprised by that?" Hot Nanny frowned deeply

"Nothing, no reason, so .. uh... what do I call her then? Like... your charge?"

"What? No! And it isn't for Tabitha anyway, I'm getting a gift for my sister's boss's daughter,"

"...Oh...?" Stiles asked, still confused, to be honest

Hot Nanny gave a loud, long sigh, closing his eyes and leaning back in the seat

"Listen, my sister needs a gift for her boss' eight-year-old daughter, but she didn't know he's going out of town today for the holidays and doesn't have the chance to go buy one herself, so I promised I would buy something and take it to the office but ... I don't know what she likes... and I figured it's alot harder to go wrong with books than with toys, I mean... for kids atleast,"

"Huh, first time I've ever heard that one," Stiles muttered, but he was no less excited and eager to sell some books anyway

"The books?" Hot Nanny asked slowly

"Right! Ok yes, um... so... these are actually all good for that age, um... ten bucks a peice so...."

"I'll take all six,"

Stiles' jaw dropped, eyes widening like saucers and a slight gasp escaping his throat

That was **_Sixty. Dollars._**

Screw "help" pay for Lydia's perfume- this paid for it completely!!!

"All.... all six?"

"I owe my sister a favor," Hot Nanny said with a small smirk

"Well um.. I mean yeah! Ok yes I can-... if you know her name I can sign the books for her? Make them seem even more special? Win your sister a few extra cool points?"

"Her name is Megan," Hot Nanny explained

"Ok, Megan," Stiles muttered back, sliding the books back towards him and flipping the first one open to start writing

"I'm Derek, by the way, and I guess this is why you liked listening to those Christmas lullabies so much? You've written alot of children's books,"

"CHRISTMAS lullabies!" Stiles hissed, snapping his fingers as he FINALLY found the answer as to why he felt like he recognized that music...

"Um... yeah it.. I guess? I mean, it's not alot, but I find them easier to write than books for adults, more relaxing and stuff too, and I'm Stiles, by the way, nice to meet you Derek,"

"Stiles is your real name? Huh... I thought it was just your pennanme,"

"Well.. I mean it isn't really my real name but my real name is the sort of thing that I would never curse anyone with ever so..."

Stiles paused, clearing his throat as he went back to signing the books and trying to change the subject a little bit away from his name

"SO a nanny huh? What brought that ... unique... career path on?"

"It wasn't really... planned, I started off babysitting for other werewolves so that we wouldn't have to get humans involved in our area and then it just... slowly evolved and before I knew it I had a career,"

Stiles blinked, pausing, not completely sure what to do with that information at first

"I can smell the wolf scents all over you, not to mention the others, don't act like you don't know," Derek said casually, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet

"And the magic?" Stiles guessed, eyebrows raising

"I noticed, is that your's or...?"

"Yeah it is,"

Derek nodded slowly, placing a few twenties on the table as Stiles opened up another book

"It's nice, the... the magic that is,"

"You think? Well thank you," he grinned, pausing for a moment as he reached into his bag and handed Derek another book, a second copy of the one he was signing now

"I uh.. I don't know if you already got something for your .. uh..."

"Client," Derek provided

"Right right your... that... um... I don't know if you already have a gift for her but .. even if you do... take this, as a uh... a gift for the big order and ... and you know... supernatural community comrodery and all that,"

"And because you think I'm hot?" Derek smirked

And oh GOD that smirk was, in fact, going to be the death of him

".....Maybe?" he hissed quietly

"You don't need to give me anything for free Stiles, really, you're a writer, I'm sure you don't make all that much as it is, I'd be happy to buy a few books for Tabby as well,"

"You don't have to-"

"But I want to,"

Stiles sighed quietly, and although the "I really want to date this guy" side of him told him to _insist_ on making it a gift, the "Holy crap that's over a hundred bucks and I NEED that to finish my Christmas shopping" side of him made him shut his mouth

"Well I have to pay you back SOMEHOW, so... how about I buy you dinner as a thank you?"

He was actually surprised he had managed to summon up the courage to say that, if he was being completely honest

"Wow, that's one of the smoothest things I've ever heard," Derek smirked

And Stiles... well he couldn't really tell if that was a good thing or not, to be honest....

"I suppose dinner is a fair enough return on my investment,"

"Really?" he squeaked

Derek smiled slightly, taking the rest of the books and standing up

"Really, I do have to get these to my sister though, before it's too late, and I have to pick up Tabby after that,"

"You know I could come with you.. if you want... do a little hocus pocus and make sure your sister's boss will appreciate these puppies?"

He didn't know where he was getting this sudden boldness from but he just hoped he could keep it up long enough to get through the first date

"I'd appreciate the company, could do without the hocus pocus though,"

"Aww... well if you insist,"

"Consider this me insisting," Derek smirked back, sliding out of the booth and scooping up the books that Stiles had signed as Stiles took the cash and stood as well

"So, where are we off to?"

"The Mattel Toys central office,"

Stiles paused, mouth falling open

"Oh my GOD is that why you don't know what to buy for the kid!?"

"It's also why I owe my sister a $60 favor," he said with a small shrug

_Ofcourse_

Because Derek is a _nanny_ and has probably been exploiting his connection to Mattel for the kids he takes care of for- ... however long Derek has been doing this

"Holy...."

"But now I know an author so I finally have my own leverage,"

"Yeah," Stiles agreed with a small smirk, linking his arm with Derek's and starting out of the coffee shop

"Yeah, now you know me, and hopefully soon you'll get to know me really well,"

As they walked, snow started to suddenly fall from the sky, causing Derek to pause and turn to Stiles in confusion

"Are you doing this?"

"Um... I'm pretty sure I am?"

Although admittedly he wasn't quite sure _how_ he was doing this...

There was a small, quiet pause

"Do you... think you could do that sometime on Christmas for my kids...? I.. Tabby has an older sister and-"

"I can SO do it,"

_Maybe_

But hey, if he could land a date with Hot Nanny, he could SO learn to make it snow in California on command!


End file.
